How many minis do you have?

[Lisa-Ruff N Tuff Minis]

Well it can vary so much. I know some who have well over 20 horses on less then an acre, some who have 5 minis and 50 acres.

Me personally I have 2.5 acres and 17 horses it is pretty much my limit at this point. I am very fanatical about having my horses turned out for a minimum of 8-10 hours a day so I need the space I have. There pasture however is not used for feed but more for playing and snacking it is 1.5 acres

 

[chandab]

Wow, lots of variety.

We raise beef cattle, so the majority of our land is for them; we have about a 1/4 section here at the home place (building, corrals, barns, pasture and hayland) and some summer/fall cattle pasture land 10 miles away. The full-size horses have access to either a 20 acre hilltop pasture (when they are actively being ridden) or an 80-acre creek bottom pasture (when they are on "vacation" or it's not being used by cattle - we don't put them together as the horses sometimes harass the cows, especially the young horses). The minis are on dry-lot up near the house and have 24/7 access to 50x100' pen and periodic access to the fenced back-yard and moveable grazing areas (I move panels around and the minis and my senior gelding keep the "yard" grazed).

 

[Sonya]

We have a little under five acres, but most is woods and the way it is set up it can't be cleared to make more pasture. The pasture is about an acre with 4 minis and a 20X22 barn. The goat pasture is about 1/4 acre with two mini goats and soon to be 2 more (this is in the woods). We also have 9 chickens that have a fenced in area about 100X15. I am definately at my limit with the minis. There is room for them to run and play, but no grass in their pasture. I would love to have a minimum of an acre of pasture per mini. We are going to be looking for a new place in about two years and that's my number one priority - land. I want the minis to be able to live on grass in the summer with just a little hay in the evening (I stall at night).

 

[Tony]

Today we have 207 horses on 200 acres.

 

[targetsmom]

Interesting topic.

We have 7.5 acres, with 2 acres in woods plus a large pond for 6 minis and one big horse. We have 2 separate 1 acre pastures for the big horse (in my avatar) which we rotate, and we need to mow them regularly in the summer. The minis are usually in a sand ring but they do get out onto a small section of the horse pasture for part of each day in the summer. Since we show a high percentage of them, we limit their grazing, but feel it is important they get some grass time.

 

[Magic]

We have 23 horses of our own (four of those are pregnant mares due this spring) and three horses that belong to a friend, on one and a half acres. We own two full size horses but they have been "vacationing" in Wyoming on my brother-in-law's place, since he has well over 100 acres and the big boys can run and play constantly there.

Our city allows four full-size horses per acre, and allows five miniatures to count as one big horse, so we are well within the legal limits. However, when we bought this place we had never imagined that our herd would grow to this size, so we've purchased over 13 acres that we will soon be moving to.

 

[tuffsmom]

We temporairily have 32 acres and one mini gelding, no big horses. Only about 10 acres of that is cleared and he wanders off into the woods at least once a day. I go outside and shake a feed bag and he comes running back to the house! :lol: We're only here for about another couple of months.

The place we're looking at & trying to purchase has around 50 acres, which will have my mini and 4 big horses on it. I can't wait!

 

[sedeh]

I have just over 5 acres, most of it in pastures/paddocks and barn with runs. Have 11 mini's now and 3 more on the way and one old retired big horse. I have 2 mini's for sale and probably the 3 coming will also be for sale. I'd like to keep my "main" herd at around 10. Have 2 pygmy goats too but they just roam and eat weeds!

 

[Bluerocket]

Very interesting topic.

We have a little over 5 acres - and we use it all for the horses. (except the spots where house, carport, barn, dog pen, lagoon and workshop sit

:

It is divided up into 6 Paddocks (including the yard as one) and I have an area that I call the "Alleyway" that runs between and around several of the paddocks - it functions as a driving area and an extra turn out area as well.

Right now we have 2 mini dwarves, 4 colts & geldings and 5 mares & Fillies. One of the mares is pregnant. We just acquired a new breeding stallion and he (and 2 boarders - yearling colts) will be arriving in May.

Last year was a drought year here -- and my horses stayed on the pasture 24x7 because we were working on the interior of the barn -- result was FAT HORSES and overgrazed paddocks/pastures.

We only have stalls to accomodate 13 (or maybe 14 horses with the dwarves doubled up).

Our intention is to keep the population (year to year) in the 12 - 13 range - thus we INTEND to sell off foals every year - ha ha. (so hard to part with those babies!!)

If you want to save money on HAY, GRAIN and shavings -- you want fewer horses per acre -- if the expense of the "food" and"bedding" is not a problem, you can have lots and lots more on 5 acres.

JJay

PS we are currently considering adding 1 or 2 small goats to the lagoon area (pigmy size) to help keep down the grass and weeds that grow on the sides of the lagoon -- if/when they run out of things to eat in there (healthy things I mean) we will pasture them with the mini dwarves and/or "stall" them

 

[CAbshear]

We have 26 acres; we lease 10 to a farmer and the rest is for our 34 minis.

 

[painthorselover]

i have 2minis 10horses 36dogs and 25 cats on 45acres.

 

[slaneyrose]

I have 13minis plus 1 big horse on 10acres of a field plus 5stables and a stable yard. 6 dogs and 4cats. dogs live in the house tho!!

 

[punky]

We have about 5 acres of ground, , we have 6 minis, 3 mares, two due to foal

in april, 1 stallion, 1 yearling colt, 1 gelding, 6 month old jersey bull calf.

A shih-tzu puppy, 2 pet rats, and some fish also, but they are in the house...I

think we have a house full!!

 

[jayne]

I have 2.5 acres. Luckily, every bit of it is either flat or gently sloping and fully usable pasture, unlike many properties I looked at of higher acreage that was swampy or wooded. I have a clydesdale and a donkey, both of whom use the 1.5 acre pasture and rotate to the neighbor's unused 4 acre pasture. The two minis and a small pony share a paddock up by the barn. I have one area of about 1/4 acre that wasn't being used and needed mowing and I though, gee, that's a shame to mow it...so I just ran and bought some t posts and more electric fence so I can temporarily fence it off for the clyde and donkey to rotate on as well....just until we decide what to do with it. It is up by the road (dead end though) and deserves a pretty wood fence, but that's not in the budget right now.

Being Washington, it rains here a LOT during the winter, so I felt I wanted a barn to put them up in at night. It just got finished last November - just in time!! Here is a pic from just the other day with my (very pregnant) donkey, the clyde, and my new barn in the background. The minis and pony are in the paddock that is just behind the clydesdale all the way back to the barn. We just love this place!!

Jayne

 

[Leeana]

We have

1 mini

2 shetlands

1 QH weanling filly (9 months old)

All on 2.5 acres, there doing pretty well. We're planning to almost double that this summer though when our renters next store move out this summer and half of that backyard will be fenced in. Plus i need to make a 1.5 acre pasture for our qh filly this fall.

 

[FFFoxyGal]

Well,...We have 2 acres,...plus a small field that is not ours but the owner said that we were welcome to use,...plus,...land along our riverbank that we are allowed to use ,..from the same guy!

We have 1 cow,...(gonna get her bred this spring)

plus,..Fred wants to buy one more this fall,....so,.that we can keep milk coming to the house,....

Then there are our ducks and ONE chicken,....We have 60 chickens(unusual brreds) and 5 ducks coming in June,...

Plus,....Little Foxy and hopefully,..*soon to be baby*

Plus 1 big dog,.who spends a lot of her time outdoors,...but,..likes being inside at night and stromy times.

plus,....2 pomeranians,.and 2 cats,.....Poms go out long enough to pee and go right back in,...

Cats are in the house all the time,...although with spring coming,..they are TRYING to get out of the house,..LOL,.through curtains,up walls,..you name it.

:

 

[Kootenay]

I currently only have 1 Miniature horse, and a Shetland/Welsh pony on about an acre. My corral at the moment is a drylot, but I do have almost 2 acres in the field next door to me, and across the road to graze them if need be.

.

 

[luvmycritters]

[SIZE=10pt]Great topic and interesting to see all of the variations.[/SIZE]

We have three acres, at least two of that are fenced for the animals. Two seperate paddocks and a larger erea for grazing - though most of this erea is wooded. Each paddock has a shelter - a lean-to in one and a small building in the other. Our utility shed ( the size of a one stall garage ) - also has a stall at the back end. My husband will be building another paddock off the back of that building this summer.

Two mini mares, one mini stallion, one mini donkey and one riding horse.

Lori

 

[horsegal5]

Wow, first I'd like to say thanks to all the replys. I am amazed at the great variation in size of land and amount of minis on it.

We are still finishing our 36x48 barn, which is in the middle of the pasture, and the paddocks are around it. We also have pretty level land and almost all is cleared. We are also downsizing to 1 big horse, 2 good size ponies and the minis which I plan to add a few more. The sheep I have are icelandic/shetland crosses so they are small in size, but I hope help to improve the pastures. We also usually raise 2 pigs a year for meat also, they don't take up to much room and help to improve the pastures naturally too. We currently have 3 paddocks and a round pen, and are going to be doing some more fencing this spring. Thanks again for all your responses.

 

[Manyspots]

We have 64 minis on 20 acres. 16 is pastures where we graze 40+ head year round but even with the lush Iowa grass we have to fertilize it twice a year and suppliment with hay 6 month of the year. The rest of the minis are in the show barn or stallion barn and are turned out daily in day pens.